During the WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis, the league’s stars went viral as they all showed up wearing protest shirts that read “Pay Us What You owe Us.” This is in reference to the upcoming expiry of the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the WNBA Players Association. Both Team Clark and Team Collier came out to wear these black shirts, including some of the league’s biggest stars like Angel Reese, Sabrina Ionescu, Paige Bueckers, and even the injured Team Clark captain, Caitlin Clark.
Women’s sports is getting more and more popular, with the WNBA generating record revenue. The players are demanding a better business model that allows the WNBA to share more of its growth with the players themselves.
Despite the record revenue that the WNBA is generating these days, some players are paid much less in comparison to their counterparts within the NBA. Also despite the record earnings the league has been getting, there are still a few people, mostly leaning conservative, who still think that the WNBA is not getting much money.
WNBA All-Stars wearing shirts that say “Pay us what you owe us.”
LOL. The league operates at a loss and is subsidized by the NBA.
And its players beat the shit out of the only player that fans pay to watch – Caitlin Clark.pic.twitter.com/A1B7A8uUsm
— John LeFevre (@JohnLeFevre) July 20, 2025
This has generated even more comments on X that blasted the players for asking what they are owed.
“No one would care if they quit,” one person claimed.
“Pure Cringe,” one conservative page added.
“The WNBA is a horrible product. They’re already overpaid,” another commenter claimed.
“Clark sold out. Meh no interest anymore,” another person said.
“League should disband,” said another commenter.
“Their coaches let them do this??? 😂,” another person asked.
Despite what the comments section has said, Peter Giorgio, head of Deloitte’s global sports group, has projected that women’s basketball is set to surpass soccer as the top women’s sport, with women’s basketball set to top $1 billion in 2025. This is a big jump from $710 million last year, and this is why WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert is pushing for the league to expand further, from 12 teams to 16 by 2028.
Skip Bayless Shows Solidarity With WNBA Players
Several sports personalities have actually showed solidarity with the WNBA players as they demanded more pay from a league that may surpass a billion dollars in earnings this year. He took to X to show his support.
“Pay Us What You Owe Us” (thanks to Caitlin Clark.)
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) July 20, 2025
The WNBA players have made it clear that they are not asking for the same amount of salaries that their counterparts in the NBA are making, but are instead lobbying to have a fairer percentage of what the league has been making.
In the NBA, there is a 49-51 split between players and owners in basketball-related income, which include TV deals, ticket and merchandise sales. In the WNBA, it was reported that players only receive 9.3% of league revenue, as opposed to the NBA where they get almost half.
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